"By the way, I promised the kids that I'll be preparing dinner tonight, so please don't prepare dinner. I'll come back to cook." Luca informed Aunt Neile so that she would not prepare dinner in advance. The kids were picky with their food. They would know who prepared the meal with just a bite. Luca was trying to prevent them from wasting food.“Alright. I got it. Ms. Craw, drive safely,” said Aunt Neile with a smile on her face. She appreciated that Luca would always inform her of things in advance. This could prevent her efforts and time from being wasted. Luca nodded, indicating that she heard her. Then, she turned around and walked out of the villa. After Luca put the gift bags into the car, she was ready to drive to the hospital. Her phone notification suddenly rang, telling her that she had received a message. Luca picked up her phone. It was a message from Luke. [Boarding now.] Those simple words seemed to throb in Luca's heart. Luke was telling her where he was. Al
Johann was not here. Luca could not guarantee that Dr. Wood would be able to remember it after she taught him. That was why she asked Nina to record a video so that Dr. Wood could watch the video after this.“Sure.” Nina took her phone out. Although she thought looking at the needles pricking into the flesh was painful and cruel, Luca was the one who asked for her help, so she would definitely help out.Luca opened the new set of needles. She began inserting the needles after Mrs. Hugh went out of the ward.Dr. Wood was standing beside her, learning seriously while listening to Luca’s explanation. Nina was stabilizing her hands while holding the phone and recording the process of Luca inserting the needles into the acupoints. Nina glanced at Tyrone. He did not seem like he was in pain looking at his expression. She could not help but whisper to herself how miraculous it was.Even though the needles were fine and thin, it usually hurt when one was pricked with them. However, the
“Marie isn’t a good person…” Luca could not help but blurt out.“You know that too. It’s troubling me so much. I regret bailing him out of jail now. My mom will surely get mad and pass out if she finds out about this.” Nina frowned. If Anna knew about this, she might think that not bailing Jean out of jail was the right choice. At least Jean would not have gotten back together with Marie. Nina refused to believe that Marie was truly in love with Jean. After all, Marie never visited him when Jean was caught. "Yeah, I know. Previously, when I was helping Old Man Rayne recuperate his health at his house, I saw Marie making a scene at the entrance of the district. Ms. Rayne told me about her," replied Luca. She did not expect a grown-up like Jean to be such a dunderhead. It was as though he was out of his mind. He was actually still attracted to Marie after what had happened. Luca reckoned that Marie took the initiative to approach Jean because of Percy.It was not because she wa
“Congratulations, Ms. Nina.” Kari and Teri wished Nina after Sue wished her. Sue had taught them to do so before they went out. “How thoughtful and adorable you two little cutie pies are. I’d really like to bring you back home for a few days.” Nina smiled and stroked Kari’s head. The child was sitting beside her.Luca looked at the engagement gift and smiled. “Congratulations, Nina. I wish you all the love and happiness.” “Thank you,” replied Nina. Although Luca was not as talkative as Sue was, she knew Luca’s wish was sincere and true.One could not define a person's sincerity by how many words were spoken. Teri, who was sitting beside Sue, saw the engagement gift Sue was holding and said, “Mommy, I’d like to eat the candy.” “We’re having lunch soon. Is it alright if you eat it after lunch?” Sue discussed this with her daughter with a gentle voice.“No, I want to eat it now. It looks yummy.” Teri was greedy. She looked at the candy and acted cutely in front of Sue as she as
“Alright, let’s order.” Nina handed the other menu to Sue, while she shared a menu with Luca.After ordering, they discussed the current affairs in A City.Luca did not say anything as she did not know much about what was going on in A City, so she just listened to them talk.They were exposed to much more things than she was.Luca was always in the laboratory working on the research. She practically had no chance of coming in contact with the outside world.However, Nina and Sue were different.They were still the backbone of Brilliant Architectural Design LLC. They were in charge of the decision-making for basically all the matters at the company. It was only when it came to a particularly important decision that they would leave it up to Luke.Sue and Nina talked for some time before noticing that Luca had not spoken at all, so Sue apologized, “Sorry about that, Luca.”“Why apologize? The things you’re talking about are quite interesting,” Luca said with a smile. They were t
“What’s wrong?” Luca noticed the ghastly expression on Nina’s face.“The Rayne family called. They said that Jean is standing in front of the villa with Marie and refuses to leave. The guards could only notify the tenant, so Wanda had no choice but to call me,” said Nina while putting on the jacket she took off.If it were not for the fact that she was Bianca’s best friend, Wanda would have already made a police report. Jean was her brother, so Wanda was just giving her grace by calling her to let her deal with it.Luca stood up as soon as she heard that. “Isn’t Jean a law-abiding citizen now? Why cause trouble for Aunt—the Rayne family?”Luca’s anxiousness raised Nina’s suspicion, and she looked even more distressed. “I reckon it’s because I refuse to give him money. Jean doesn’t have a penny to his name now. Perhaps it’s also because Marie incited him to do this.”Luca thought of the soft and fragile Wanda. She was ill at ease. “I’ll go with you.”Nina wanted to tell Luca to no
Marie bit her lip. She knew all of that?She instantly felt guilty when Wanda looked at her.Luca was puzzled when she heard Wanda’s words and looked at Marie’s guilty expression.What else did Marie and her mother do that she was not aware of?Nina stood at the side and apologized to Wanda, “I’m very sorry, Aunt Rayne. If this happens again, please just call the police immediately without informing me.”She already knew that she would not be able to chase Jean away even before she came.It was because this was the first time this had happened, so she wanted to apologize to Wanda personally.“Nina, what did you say?” Jean did not believe the words that came out of her mouth. He instantly could not bear the sight of her and raised his hand to slap her.Luca reacted quickly and blocked him. She raised her hand and forcefully grabbed Jean’s wrist. “If you dare lay a finger on her, I’ll make you regret it.”Jean looked at Luca’s exquisite face. Even though she was barefaced and lo
After a while, Luke’s people rushed over.Then, Luca briefly explained everything to them and let them go back.Luca heaved a sigh of relief as the matter had finally been resolved. Wanda saw the smile on her face after the problem was dealt with and could not help but lift her hand to dust off the fallen snow on Luca’s shoulders.“You must’ve rushed over here, right? You don’t even have your gloves on. It must be freezing. Let’s go inside,” she said.“Okay, Aunt Rayne.” Luca rubbed her palms together and followed Wanda into the neighborhood.Wanda walked beside Luca, and when she looked sideways at her, she was momentarily distracted by the fact that Luca was the same height as Bianca.Bianca used to walk beside her like this, but walking with Luca beside her gave her the same feeling.She was bewildered.Wanda shook her head slightly. Luca noticed and asked, “What is it, Aunt Rayne?”“Nothing. It’s a cold winter day, so let’s hurry inside the house. Old Master Crawford is he
“As long as he stays out of your sight, I won’t make a move,” said Ray.If Gordan were not one of Luke’s pals, he would have been long gone.Anyone who dared to mess with someone Ray cherished would not be let off easily. The only reason Gordan was still breathing was thanks to Luke.“Alright, Ray. Just let it go. I’ve moved on and started a new life. Plus, I’m studying at Capital University. We have mutual friends, so running into him is inevitable. If that happens, we’ll just be strangers. There’s no need to step in for me or act impulsively.” Just as Vivian finished speaking, the doorbell rang.“Is it the clothes delivery?” asked Ray.“No, while you were talking with Mr. Crawford, I asked someone to buy some medicinal cream. The ones here work better than the ones in Russia. A little massage with it should help you heal faster,” Vivian said, grabbing a mask and hat before heading to the door.“Miss, is the boss alright?” asked one of Ray’s subordinates.“He’s fine. Did you ge
When Ray heard that there was a 90% chance of success, he could not help but ask, “Can you walk me through your plan?”“The prison where Kassy is being held actually has an underground passage. I’ve already spoken with the prison officials, and we can use that passage to transport her out. It connects to the sewage system, which leads directly to another detention facility. "The only catch is that this facility’s underground pipes don’t connect to the outside world, so the remaining 10% risk lies in moving Kassy onto the main road and securing her at the new location.“This whole operation can be done without anyone noticing, which is why I’m confident it’ll work.” As Luke explained, he pulled out a detailed map of the sewer system. “Here’s the layout I had someone retrieve. This is the starting point, and this is the destination. If we take this route, we can move Kassy without alerting Abel’s people.”Abel’s men were keeping a constant watch outside the prison now. That was prec
Luke had no idea what kind of mindset the person who poisoned Vivian had. However, he found Gordan’s current behavior quite intriguing.“Luke, what’s with that look?” Gordan felt uneasy under his gaze.“You seem pretty concerned about Vivian,” Luke leaned back on the couch and said thoughtfully.Gordan froze for a moment before laughing it off. “What? No way! Why would I care about her? Come on, Luke, don’t say stuff like that. If she hears it, she might start getting ideas.”Luke could not be bothered to expose his act and got straight to the point. “Why are you here?”“Speaking of that, I almost got sidetracked by that woman.” Gordan quickly pulled out his phone, grimacing. “Man, Ray really didn’t hold back. I need to get some treatment for these bruises later.”Luke took the phone and tried to unlock it. It needed a passcode. He handed it back. “Unlock it.”“All set, boss.” Gordan unlocked the phone and went back to pressing an ice pack against his face.Luke scanned the scr
It was the sound of a body slamming onto the ground.Gordan’s furious curses rang out. “Damn it! You're really going all out, huh? Do you think I'm scared of you?”Another loud thud followed.Vivian frowned. What the hell were they doing? Were they really going to fight until one of them won?Both of them were skilled fighters. If they kept this up, neither would walk away unscathed.“Enough!” shouted Vivian.The two men locked in the fight froze for a moment.“Vivian, stay out of this. I’m beating him to a pulp today,” growled Ray, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth. He was not in great shape, but neither was Gordan.“Ray, I don’t want to see him,” said Vivian. She did not want Ray fighting him. It was not to protect Gordan but because she did not want Ray getting hurt.Also, she definitely did not want Gordan to see her like this. She could already picture his smug face, his sarcastic remarks and his gloating.“Fine. If you don’t want to see him, I’ll just beat
After returning to the hotel from the hospital, Vivian felt much better.To her, the fact that Ray had taken her to the hospital meant there was hope for the future, which lifted her spirits. She picked up an apple from the fruit platter the hotel had provided and took a bite.“Ray, this apple is really good. Want to try one?” asked Vivian.Ray shook his head. “You go ahead. By the way, can I take a look at the luggage you brought from Russia?”Vivian nodded. “I only hung up my clothes. Everything else is still in the suitcase. You can just take the things out.”Ray walked into the bedroom, pulled out her suitcase, and opened it. Inside were just books and a few other small items, nothing unusual.“You didn't bring any food with you?” asked Ray.“I haven’t really been in the mood, but the food here is way better than Russian food, so I didn't feel the need to bring anything.” Vivian’s tone was lighthearted now that she was in a better mood.“That's true.” Ray agreed, then asked
Ray's tone turned serious. “Alright, I'll make the arrangements immediately. Dr. Craw, once the toxicology report is out, we’ll still need your help.”“For toxicology cases like this, I recommend combining both modern medicine and traditional herbal medicine. Don’t worry, if I can help, I definitely will,” Luca assured him.“Alright, thank you.” Ray expressed his gratitude and ended the call before updating Luke on the situation.Luke reassured him, saying, “If Vivian was really poisoned, don’t worry. Previously, Luca discovered that her biological mother had been poisoned with a slow-acting toxin. She prescribed herbal medicine and used purely traditional herbal medicine to detoxify her. It didn’t take long for all the toxins to be expelled, and her health fully recovered. So, rest assured. If it’s something she can fix, she’ll do everything she can.“Besides, once we identify the exact problem, the doctors will be able to step in and help, right?”“Yes. Thank you both in advance
Gerald walked over. “Ms. Sanchez, what's wrong?”He was eager to get back upstairs and stash his cigarettes before someone noticed and took them.Hera yanked open his bag, glanced at the cigarette brand, and scoffed. “I thought it was some expensive brand. But it's just this? And you’re acting all deferential to her over this?”Gerald was rendered speechless. “I knew Ms. Craw was going out, so I asked her to bring these back for me. This is the brand I’m used to. Maybe it’s not expensive to you, but for me, it’s what I can afford.”Realizing she had misspoken, Hera felt a bit awkward. She quickly changed the topic. “Still, is a pack of cigarettes really worth you being so grateful to Luca? How much could it have cost?”“It’s not about the money,” replied Gerald. “It's just a nice surprise. I never expected to get anything out of helping Ms. Craw, and this kind of unexpected gift has nothing to do with the price. Besides, I'm not being overly grateful. I'm just happy.”He was ba
Luca’s lips were already swollen and flushed from Luke's kisses.That deep shade of red, reflected in Luke’s eyes, was utterly captivating. It tugged at his nerves, stirring an uncontrollable desire within him.At that moment, he had only one thought, and it was to completely lose himself in her.…The two of them stepped out of the bedroom.Vivian quickly turned her back and greeted Luke when he saw him coming out, “Hello, Mr. Crawford.”“Vivian, don’t worry. Everything will get better,” replied Luke.Vivian simply hummed in response.Ray gave them a grateful nod as Luke took Luca’s hand and led her away.It was only after hearing the door close that Vivian finally turned back around.Ray glanced at her and said, “Vivian, they’re your friends. You don’t have to act this way around them. They won’t judge you.”“I know they won’t…” Vivian let out a soft sigh. “I just feel like I look terrifying right now. I didn’t want to scare them, so I avoided facing them directly. But it’
“I once treated someone who had been slowly poisoned over a long period of time. Their pulse was similar to Vivian’s. Given that your family has good genetics, yet Vivian is different from the rest of you, and her skin improved after leaving her original environment, all of this confirms my suspicion.“Could it be that someone in your family has been poisoning Vivian? That would explain why her skin ended up like this.”“If she really has been poisoned, then would staying away from that environment or identifying the person responsible help her get better?” asked Ray.Luca shook her head.“The poison I’ve encountered before was a slow-acting toxin that kept the victim’s skin dark. I don’t know exactly what it was, but long-term exposure to any poison has an effect on the body. It's just a suspicion now. I need to consult someone I know. And honestly, I can’t be sure what’s really causing Vivian’s condition.“Is her skin deteriorating so quickly because she was poisoned once more a